Dallas Wind Symphony
Encyclopedia
The Dallas Wind Symphony (DWS) is a professional concert band
based in Dallas
, Texas
(USA
).
The DWS was founded in 1985 by Kim Campbell and Southern Methodist University
music professor Howard Dunn. It was originally organized as a "reading band" to allow local professional freelance musicians (many of them music teachers and band directors) to play challenging wind ensemble music as they had in high school and college. The reading sessions led to performances, first at SMU's Caruth Auditorium and then around the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, with a formal concert season established at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
in 1990.
After the death of Howard Dunn in 1991, the DWS launched an extensive national search for a new artistic director. Jerry F. Junkin, Director of Bands at the University of Texas at Austin
, was named DWS Artistic Director and Conductor in 1993. Frederick Fennell
served as Principal Guest Conductor from the mid-1990s until his death in 2004.
The DWS has released fourteen high-fidelity recordings since 1991 in partnership with Reference Recordings, eleven of which were produced using the patented HDCD encoding process. Two recordings have been nominated for Grammy Award
s — Trittico (1993, Producer of the Year, Classical) and Garden of Dreams (2007, Best Engineered Album, Classical).
Excerpts from DWS concerts are frequently heard on American Public Media
's Performance Today
show.
Along with the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
, the Dallas Wind Symphony is regarded as one of the world's leading wind orchestras.
Concert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
based in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
).
The DWS was founded in 1985 by Kim Campbell and Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
music professor Howard Dunn. It was originally organized as a "reading band" to allow local professional freelance musicians (many of them music teachers and band directors) to play challenging wind ensemble music as they had in high school and college. The reading sessions led to performances, first at SMU's Caruth Auditorium and then around the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, with a formal concert season established at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is a concert hall located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas . Ranked one of the world's greatest orchestra halls, it was designed by architect I.M. Pei and acoustician Russell Johnson's Artec Consultants, Inc...
in 1990.
After the death of Howard Dunn in 1991, the DWS launched an extensive national search for a new artistic director. Jerry F. Junkin, Director of Bands at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, was named DWS Artistic Director and Conductor in 1993. Frederick Fennell
Frederick Fennell
Frederick Fennell was an internationally recognized conductor, and one of the primary figures in promoting the wind ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the USA and abroad...
served as Principal Guest Conductor from the mid-1990s until his death in 2004.
The DWS has released fourteen high-fidelity recordings since 1991 in partnership with Reference Recordings, eleven of which were produced using the patented HDCD encoding process. Two recordings have been nominated for Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s — Trittico (1993, Producer of the Year, Classical) and Garden of Dreams (2007, Best Engineered Album, Classical).
Excerpts from DWS concerts are frequently heard on American Public Media
American Public Media
American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...
's Performance Today
Performance Today
Performance Today is a Peabody Award-winning classical music radio show, currently hosted by Fred Child. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million listeners on 237 stations...
show.
Along with the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
The is a professional concert band that has long been regarded as one of the world's finest, perhaps rivaled only in recent years by the Dallas Wind Symphony ....
, the Dallas Wind Symphony is regarded as one of the world's leading wind orchestras.